Mark Ronson Comes Out As ‘Sapiosexual’ and I Have Questions

Songwriter, DJ, and music producer Mark Ronson has come out as ‘sapiosexual‘.  In case you’re wondering, sapiosexual “means being attracted to intelligence above other traits — or in other words, putting brains before looks or gender.”

Ronson made this pronouncement on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, where the anchors congratulated him for being “out and proud.”

My questions: What?  How is this brave or newsworthy?  How is this a coming out?  As far as I can tell from a quick Google search, Ronson is a male who exclusively dates women. In other words, his sexual orientation is “heterosexual” or “straight.”  He just happens to prefer smart women, women he connects with on a intellectual level. That’s not a sexual orientation – it’s having a “type.”

Author Nichi Hodgson appeared on the show earlier, defending the term.  “The definition of sapiosexuality means intelligence first,” she said.

Arguing that research on the subject validates the term, Hodgson said: “We know that a certain percentage of the population is also sapiosexual.  They just might not know it themselves, because we haven’t used the term before.”

Except Ronson, as far as I can tell, isn’t putting intelligence first, as the definition suggests.  He isn’t putting brains above gender.  He dates smart women – emphasis on women.   This isn’t an orientation or a ‘coming out’ as it’s being touted.  This is simply a straight man announcing he likes a certain type of woman.

I’ll recant if Ronson learned this term and suddenly starts dating men he connects with intellectually.  Somehow, I don’t think that’s how sexuality works.